floating organs - lights out

Floating Organs

Lights Out
self-released; 2014

3.6 out of 5

By Ethan Skelton

Whoa. Floating Organs waste no time in bringing their crazy out. On Lights Out you’ll hear digital chaos with industrial attack at a near frantic pace. The tracks sound like a mix between a video game boss level and some kind of warped dance party. It’s not abrasive per se, but slightly maniacal and predominantly minor. Songs that would cause an involuntary seizure may be found on this album. You’ve been warned. 

The pulses and surges of multiple synths and textures just hammer away at the beat without any relent. It’s really saturating after a few minutes, but these guys create romp after romp that will keep the energy up. Try it out at your next house party. Or not. Depends on your friends.

Without any lyrical relation or general emotion besides an electronic shower of adrenaline, the song names do tell somewhat of a narrative. Floating Organs come across as conscious, humorous, and in touch with the tangible spirit. They choose their belief systems based on the physical and rational, not buying into social webs or the safety in blind concurrence. They also value the use of hallucinogenic elements, which I find personally liberating. 

This album takes on a new meaning when seen through the eye of an alternate reality. To quote two specifically, “Juchebag” and “Evolve or Die” are likely a survey on the human race and how we should stop our self-serving ways and move to a higher knowledge or succumb to a singular or collective extinction. Not exactly a feel good message, but an important one nonetheless. This is all my own speculation, of course, have a listen and see what it all means to you. You’ll come away with something I can guarantee that.

To be frank, I left this musical experience a little off put. The theme is dark and pretty objective. It has some great old school 8-bit sounding passages, but I couldn’t shake the imagery of a virtual rampage. I called upon the days of my youth spent hypnotized by the arcade industry. The tension in these songs could also be found in my shoulders as I clung for life amidst a challenging episode of battling the bad guys. Let’s just say, if this doesn’t become the score of some monster themed role playing game, it’s an opportunity missed. 

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